Are we defined by our emotions…

The short answer is no……

When coaching clients through a separation, emotions are overwhelming and dictate their feelings about the breakdown of the relationship.

It's therefore imperative to understand how emotions impact on their feelings and actions and how to address that. Robert Plutchik, an American psychologist is credited with first theorising that there are eight primary emotions; anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. He explained that these emotions, however negative some may appear, have a beneficial purpose in our lives. An example is that of fear giving rise to the fight or flight mode in us as a way to protect us from harm.

 Dr.Gloria Wilcox in 1982 created the feelings wheel which has evolved and since been adapted by many as a coaching tool. I was introduced to it by Jo Wheatley and Zoe Hawkins of In good company. They speak about this in their book, Deciding to Coach and their podcasts and I have learnt so much from these resources.